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Cindy’s Story: Finding Answers at Mayo After Nearly a Decade of Health Issues

After spending most of the last decade in and out of physicians’ offices looking for solutions to her medical problems, Cindy Hansen turned to the Mayo Clinic for answers. She was very tired and very ill, but her symptoms weren’t related to any specific illness. Cindy was told that she might have fibromyalgia, hyperthyroidism, Lyme disease or Lupus or Diabetes.

The McKinney, Texas resident finally made an appointment last fall at Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville to have a complete medical evaluation after her primary care doctor in Texas encouraged it.

“It was the happiest day of my life when I got a call from the Mayo Clinic in Florida telling me that I could be seen there,” Cindy said recently when she was visiting family and friends in Minnesota.“We didn’t get shuffled around and we received an immediate response after seeking an appointment online through the Mayo Clinic’s website.”

Cindy and her husband Dave packed their bags and headed for Jacksonville not knowing what lay ahead, but confident that their journey was leading them on the right path. It was on their fourth day there, Cindy says, that she received “the diagnosis.”

After ruling out a number of medical conditions, Kevin Landolfo, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon, revealed the news. Cindy had three clogged arteries and would need to undergo further tests to determine whether her arteries could be opened with stents or whether she would need to have bypass surgery.Cindy reveals the treatment route she needed to take and recalls her experience as a Mayo Clinic patient in the following video clip.

This post was written by Karl Oestreich, communications manager in Public Affairs.